Gritty Realism

Sessions 60-62

Deep In The Dark Web

11

JUN/17

Wonder Month, 4th Day of the Sun

Today is the day of the sun, so I know it will be a great one. Al and Francis left last night to meet Ivelious at the monastery to hopefully rid them of their taint. I spent the evening inquiring about the Lord of Ash, but once more I was left without answers. The townsfolk appeared happy, although they were frustrated with the dying fields and crops, with some resentment building up towards the Lord Protector Aelif Hawkcloud. MY questioning revealed that after the fall Ringfield had been protected by latent magic, a power that was strengthened with the later arrival of Ivelious.

This morning Azmodeous failed to appear downstairs for breakfast. We checked the room he had been staying in, only to find a note addressed to Francis and 400 gold pieces. Given Francis’ incapacitation I took it upon myself to read the note. It was poorly written, with simple childlike illustrations. I believe the general sentiment was “thank you for the jailbreak”.

Whilst we waited on Ivelious completing his healing magic on Al an Francis, we decided to take Jarvok to the golden scabbard so he cold see the magical Axe that Conga had shown us the day prior. After some haggling Jarvok negotiated the purchase of the Axe infused with rage, in exchange for a large quantity of gold and some fine wine.

After we completed our business, we headed to the monastery to see how our friends were doing. Upon reaching the large door we knocked upon it and were told to wait whilst our friends were brought to us. Francis arrived, with 50% less legs than he had the day prior. Al was apparently too unwell to join us, the mental strain he had undergone was too taxing. Alongside Ivelious and Francis was a third figure, a tall pale man who even in the light appeared to be veiled in shadow. For a moment I reached for my blade and reached out with my senses,, but Ivelious claimed he was a disciple of his named Lander and I could not feel any taint on him, nor could I sense any left on Francis; Ivelious’ magic had worked. It was however not without it’s side effects, as Francis was clearly sapped of much of his strength and unable to carry his usual burdens. Ivelious envoked a blessing upon us and encouraged us to purchase some healing potions from Mable for the battles to come.

Mable was, as always, overly friendly with Francis and Jarvok. I kept my distance during the oral exchanges, and we left with several healing potions and some water breathing potions. Francis and Lander however got off on the wrong foot, the latter taken umbrage to Francis trading the blood of the fallen with mable for a discount. I must confess it was something I had concerns with, but Ivelious would no doubt keep the town safe.

Darrick got our horses and we headed North with haste to find the source of the problem. As we approached the river a dam came into view, which on closer inspection seemed to be composed of logs and some form of adhesive. Jarvok suggests that it is some form of webbing, his keen eyes able to spot detail at impressive distance. As we approach, Francis discovered dozens of pit traps similar to the one we fell victim to before. This time, with Francis leading, we avoided them with ease, while also finding tracks of what was almost certainly those of the perpetrators. After some debate, we decided to head back to Darrick and instruct him to return to Ringfield with our horses. With that done, we continued to follow the tracks, eventually happening upon a strange looking stone. Jarvock lifted it’s weight with ease and tossed it aside, revealing a vertical tunnel with a ladder. We descending for several minutes, followed by several hours of walking once we reached the bottom. In the darkness it was hard to tell exactly how much time had passed.

We eventually found a strange door, with a twisted smiling face and large ring. There was an odd eleven script on the door as well, but I was unable to read it. Francis was more adept, and ascertained it was under common. Lander performed a magic ritual and detected a magical trap on the door as well. The group decided to stand back whilst Francis whispered something to the door. There was a bizarre noise as the door shuddered and opened. We entered with some trepidation and found ourselves in small room with another wooden door with further strange words along the lines of “Til Asperna”. Jarvock heard whispering in the room beyond the door, which Francis opened revealing two dark elves, who promptly sound an alarm. Without hesitation Jarvock charged forward, slashing with his axe and felling the two drow before charging at another group that had come around the corner with a giant spider. I cast a curse upon the Drow which helped debilitate them. Some of us took hits, only to find that a viscous poison had afflicted us. I got to see Lander in combat, his dark arts reaching you and striking down the enemies. His intentions seem just, but his powers are unnerving.

Following the battle, we continued to search this strange cavern. We had barel entered the next room when we were attacked by a magic wielder. His magic misses lashed out at us, while I slipped upon his grease spell that he had cunning placed at the doorway. He tried to cast more spells, but somehow Lander was able to nullify them. We managed to inflict damage on him and his mirror images, although Jarvock had become more and more enraged. The look of madness stayed in his yes after he cut the magician asunder, and so we fled back to the room and closed to door, locking Jarvock out. This brief null in battle seemed to be enough to calm Jarvock down, and after searching the room we returned to the entrance to try and get a brief rest. Through reading the books we determined the drow wizard was named Amondrucol, and we pilfered from his corpse a book of strange creatures, 4 flasks, 1 magic wand and a spell book.